1. INTRODUCTION The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) and the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) present this report on the role of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in promoting gender equality and empowerment of women and girls living in rural areas in the context of the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62). Despite the growing urbanization across the world, 46 per cent of the world’s population live in rural areas5 and women and girls constitute approximately half of the world’s rural population. They are by no means a homogeneous group and their living situation may vary “according to, inter alia, location, income, age, race/ethnicity, culture and religion, as well as their access to productive assets, capabilities and opportunities and the extent of their voice and agency”6. What they have in common as a group are the barriers that rurality creates. Globally, gender and development indicators show that women living in rural areas generally fare worse than men living in rural areas and worse than women living in urban areas, and that they disproportionately experience poverty, exclusion and the effects of climate change7. The empowerment of women and girls living in rural areas has become an increasing concern of the international community. The 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action8 mentions economic underdevelopment, poverty, social marginalization and environmental health hazards amongst the barriers that particularly affect women and girls in rural areas. 20 years later, when the Platform was reviewed, it was noted that “[o]verall progress in the implementation of the Platform for Action has been particularly slow for women and girls who experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination”9, such as those living in rural areas. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Agenda10 clearly links gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls living in rural areas to other goals and targets, including, ending poverty in all its forms (SDG 1), eradicating hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture (SDG 2), achieving full and productive employment and decent work for all (SDG 8), and taking action to combat climate change (SDG 13). This report shows how NHRIs act as a catalyst to empower women and girls living in rural areas and help combat discrimination they experience, particularly in relation to their adequate standard of living, including income security and social protection; their food security and nutrition; and their rights to land and productive resources, including land tenure security. Methodology For the purpose of collecting the relevant information for this report, a survey was developed and distributed amongst all NHRIs, regardless of their accreditation status. The survey contained a total of 23 questions, the core of which was closely modelled after “General recommendation No. 34 on 5 World Bank Staff estimates for 2015 based on United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.RUR.TOTL.ZS. 6 UN Doc A/70/204, “Improvement of the situation of women in rural areas, Report of the Secretary-General” (2015), online: https://undocs.org/en/A/70/204, p. 6. 7 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, The State of Food and Agriculture: Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (Rome, 2016), online: http://www.fao.org/3/a-i6030e.pdf, p. 49. 8 United Nations, Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), online: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/pdf/BDPfA%20E.pdf. 9 UN Doc E/CN.6/2015/3, “Review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly Report of the Secretary-General” (2014), online: https://undocs.org/E/CN.6/2015/3, p. 6. 10 UN Doc A/RES/70/1, online: http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E 3